Everything Changes
by untapdtreasure
Summary: Will the demise of Captain Ross be the end of Goren & Eames?


Title: Everything Changes

Author: untapdtreasure

Pairing: Goren/Eames

Rating: K

Spoilers: Loyalty

Word Count: 1111

Summary: Will the demise of Captain Ross be the end of Goren & Eames?

A/N: This was written for a challenge at a last author standing community. The prompt was deja vu. The original piece for this was 532 words. At the encouragement of my beta, Vicky, I toyed with it and hopefully made it better. So please read and review. Thank you, Vicky!

LOCI

Bobby Goren watched her from a distance. Her hair whipped about her face. He watched as her gloved hand came up and brushed the hair from her eyes. He memorized every fluid movement she made. Even in the bulky winter coat, he knew her muscles were rippled and lean. What if this was the last time he saw her?

They had gathered their belongings together. They had said their formal good-byes, but it only left him longing for more time with her. Standing here, he felt a sense of déjà vu.

He found her in this very place just two days before when Captain Ross had been slain. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She always fought hard to keep her composure, but this time she let her tears fall freely. Their relationship changed in that moment. It wasn't the first time he had looked beyond her stoicism and saw into the heart of Alexandra Eames, but it was the first time she had welcomed his concern. He had pulled her close, allowing her to cry. She hugged him so tight he was sure she would shatter into a million pieces.

He had simply held her and allowed her what she needed most; to grieve. She had looked up at him with her tear stained cheeks and his heart became hers completely. She moved onto tip toes and let her mouth brush against his. At the time, he was certain his heart had stopped, or that he had been dreaming. He closed his eyes and opened them again. He looked down and whispered, "What are we doing?"

She had a simple request. "Come home with me?"

He shook his head and said softly, "We can't do this, Eames. It's not..." He searched for the right words. "...the right time. Not now." He couldn't take her home to bed, make love to her, and hold her while she cried and have her regret it in the morning. She was scared. So was he.

She had pulled away then and stared out over the water. "Drive you home?"

He nodded. "Sure."

Here she stood again. The wind continued to wreak havoc with her hair. He slowly approached, careful not to startle her.

She looked out across the choppy, white capped water. The wind and the water masked his approach, but she didn't need to hear him to feel his presence next to her. "I'm not going to jump, if that's what you're thinking."

He leaned his back against the railing and watched as an older couple passed by them. He noted they were holding hands and talking real close as if the world included only them. He let himself hope he could still find that kind of happiness with Alex. He prayed it was not too late; that he hadn't misread her kiss and her offer to take him home with her. He shook his head saying, "You're not the whack job."

She snorted and turned to face him. "And damn it, neither are you." Since the Captain's death, all her emotions seemed close to the surface. She balled her hands into fists in frustration. It wasn't fair. She shouldn't have had to fire him. She should never have been asked to do that to him…. to her partner…to her best friend.

He rubbed the back of his neck and tilted his head. "Eames..." He was, for the first time in his life, at a loss for words. He simply shrugged.

She looked at him, with a fire of determination in her eyes. "I know you better than you give me credit for, Bobby." The fire was doused as her eyes welled up with unshed tears. "If you'd just let me..."

He pushed himself from the rail and took her shoulders in his big hands, "That's what I'm afraid of. You don't want me…how can you?" His self-doubt warred against his true desires. "Alex, what we have...what we've had the past nine years..I don't want to lose your friendship. I'll fuck everything up eventually."

"Then why are you here?" Her hands moved to his hips, stepping closer.

He couldn't keep her at a distance any longer, he didn't want to. Instead, he took her in his arms gently, surrendering to the longing in his heart. When she laid her cheek against his chest, he placed a feather light kiss to the top of her head and murmured, "Because I couldn't stay away." His words were so softly spoken that he wasn't even sure himself that he spoke aloud. He closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of her in his arms and thinking How she was the one thing that made his world bright. Could he tell her that?

Her voice interrupted his thoughts. "What did you say?"

When she lifted her head and saw the torn look in his eyes, she said, "Kiss me."

His hand shook as he brought it to her cheek. "You don't..." The memory of her lips on his a few nights before overwhelmed him. Her lips, soft and warm. Perfect. Could he push aside all his self-doubt and really let her in? Could he take that risk?

"Kiss me," she repeated. As she had two days before, she lifted up on her tip toes and brushed her lips over his in a soft, chaste kiss. She pulled back, "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

His resolved slipped. He didn't even try hard to fight it. His heart wanted this. He wanted her. Heaned down, pressing his lips to hers again this time deepening the kiss. He pushed her back against the railing. Breathless, he pulled back. "Kissing you was never going to be the hard part."

She fisted his shirt and pulled his mouth back to hers. Their tongues met as her body pressed firmly against his. She moaned softly as he sucked at her tongue. The soft leather of her gloved hand glided over the nape of his neck into his hair.

Kissing felt so right, an extension of their long friendship, so complete. "Come home with me?" he breathed as his lips slid across her jaw to her ear.

Her heart, already pounding in excitement, slammed in her chest as a spark of panic arose. It was here, the moment that would change everything. Could they make this work? Or would this screw up everything they had worked so hard to build? She was willing to take that chance and she wanted to that with Bobby. "Everything changes..."

He nodded. Kissing her ear, he whispered, "But not what matters." He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was smiling. "Let's go home."


End file.
